Front mounted grain swather



Nov. 8, 1949 w. E. KRIEDEMAN 2,487,144

FRONT MOUNTED GRA IN SWATHER Filed June 11, 1948 3 Sheets-Shet 1 William E. Kn'edeman INVENTOR.

Nov. 8, 1949 w. E. KRIEDEMAN FRONT MOUNTED GRAIN SWATHER I Filed June 11, 1948 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 William E. Kn'edeman INVENTOR.

Nov. 8, 1949 w. E. KRIEDEMAN 2,487,144

FRONT MOUNTED GRAIN SWATHER Filed June 11, 1948 5 Shets-Sheet 3 Fig.3.

UM All 24 E 78 v 36 I 46 F lg 4 ,7 i 48 v. n \R! William EKn'edeman 66 INVENTOR.

MUM

Patented Nov. 8, 1949 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE I rmon'r nioun'l t i gxam swa'rmia I lmfiirfif fifiiia 1 Claim.

1 This invention relates to new and useful improvements and structural refinements in agricultural implements, more specifically, grain swathers such as are commonly mounted .on or drawn by tractors, and the principal object of the invention is to prevent the conventionally v.experienced damage or mutilation of the crop by the wheels of the tractor which preceded the swathing implement.

This object is achieved by mounting the swather forwardly of the tractor. so that the crop is cut and deposited in a swath without the wheels of the tractor coming in contact therewith.

An important feature of the invention resides in the provision of hydraulically actuated means for raising and lowering the swather with respect to the tractor by which it is carried, such raising and lowering means being disposed at both sides of the tractor and being providedwith what may be referred to as equalizing means which assure that the carrier members attaching the swather to the tractor are raised andlowered simultaneously on both sides of the tractor, thereby maintaining the swather level at all times, even if the movementof the hydraulic means is notalways synchronized.

Another very important feature of the invention resides in the provision of means for attaching the swather to the tractor, these means being extremely simple in construction whereby attachment and detachment of the swather may be effected with ease, convenience and expediency.

With the above more important objects and features in view and such other objects and features as may become apparent as this specification proceeds, theinvention consists essentially of the construction and arrangement of parts as shown in the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a top plan view of the invention in housing l4 and is also provided with a laterally extending power take-off shaft l8.

The swather l8 embodies in its construction a pair of spaced frame members I 8 which are disposed at the sides of the tractor l2 and have their rear end portions pivoted by means of suitable bolts 28 to pairs of brackets 22 secured 'to the axle housing l4, as will be clearly apparent. It is to be noted that the carrier members l8 extend forwardly of the tractor l2 and carry an elongated frame 24 which extends transversely with respect to the tractor and projects laterally more toward one side than to the other, as shown in Figure 1.

An endless conveyor belt 28 passes around a pair of end rollers 28 carried by suitable shafts 38, 32 rotatably journaled in the frame 24, the shaft 32 carrying a pair of pulleys 84, 38.

A reciprocable sickle unit 38 of conventional type is mounted at the forward edge of the frame 24, the cutting blade 48 of the unit 88 being reciprocated by a pitman 42 which is operatively connected to a disc 44 mounted upon the shaft -48. The shaft 48 is rotatably journaled in the frame 24 and carries a pair of further pulleys 48, 50, the latter of which is operatively connected to the aforementioned pulley 34 by means'of an endless belt 82.

A pair of spaced upright supports 54 are prd- 'vided on the frame 24 and carry a transversely extending, rotatable shaft 58 on which is mounted the usual reel-assembly 58. A pulley is also secured to the shaft 58 and is connected by means of an endless belt 82 to the aforementioned pulley 38 on the shaft 32.. The belt 82 is axially twisted, so to speak, and suitable guide pulleys 84 are provided on one of the supports 84 to assure proper alignment of the belt 82 with the pulleys l8 and 80, as will be readily apparent.

By virtue of the construction described, it is to be noted that rotation of the shaft 48 will simultaneously actuate the reel 88, the conveyor belt28 and the sickle unit 38, the shaft 48 being rotated by means of an endless belt 88 which passes around the aforementioned pulley 48 and i liquid a further pulley 88 which, in turn, is secured to a shaft rotatably mounted upon a supporting plate or panel 12 carried by one of the aforementioned members l8.

The shaft 18 also carries a bevel gear I4 which means including a pair of hydraulic cylinders 85 dispose ertically at the sides of the tractor, these cy ton rods 98 which projects upwardly from the cylinders 86 and terminate in forked extremities 92. Suitable pulleys 94 are rotatably mounted in the forked extremities 82 of the piston rods, and a length of cable 96 passes over the pulleys 94 and has its ends secured to the carrier members l8 as at 98.

Accordingly, by simply actuating the cylinders 86, the piston rods 90 may be caused to slide upwardly or downwardly, thereby correspondingly raising or lowering the entire swather 10 about the pivots 20 on the tractor. This adjustment, of course, facilitates convenient raising and lowering of the sickle unit 38, so that the crop may be cut at an appropriate height from the ground.

Inasmuch as the two cylinders 88 and the pulleys 94 are provided at the opposite sides of the tractor, the two members l8 will be raised and lowered simultaneously, so as to maintain the swather level at all times. That is to say, if one of the cylinders 86 should move through a greater or'a lesser distance than the second cylinder, the

cable 96 passing over the rotatable pulleys 94 will automatically become adjusted in such manner that the members I 8 will be raised or lowered through a like distance, maintaining the swather level.

Attention is also directed to the ease and convenience with which the swather may be attached to or detached from the tractor, the detaching operation, for example, being effected by simply removing the bolts 29 so as to disconnect the members l8 from the housing [4, disengaging the belt 82 from the pulley 84, and simply separating the swather from the tractor so as to disengage the cable 96 from the pulleys 94. Needless to say, the swather may be attached to the tractor by simply reversing the procedure of detaching, as above outlined.

It will be apparent from the foregoing paragraph that in addition to their primary equalizing utility, the pulleys 94 and the cable 96 readily assist in the attachment or detachment of the swather, the cable 96 being, of course, more easily disengageable from the pulleys 94 than it would be if it were connected directly to the piston rods 98.

It is to be noted that the side of the frame 24 (left side) which has the relatively greater amount of "overhang" with respect to the tractor I 2, is

ders including pistons 88 secured to pis- 4 formed with a delivery chute or opening Ill,

whereby the cut grain maybe conveniently deposited in a swath upon the ground.

Accordingly, the crop will be cut and deposited on the ground at one side of the tractor. the for ward mounting of the swather thus eflectively preventing the tractor wheels from damaging or otherwise mutilating the crop, as usually occurs when conventional swathers are mounted at the,

rear end of the tractor or are drawn thereby.

Moreover, the front mounting of the swather will facilitate the use of a combine, if desired, simultaneously with the swather, the combine preferably being drawn by the same tractor which carries the swather, thus substantially minimizing the time and labor involved in the harvesting operation.

It may be addedthat another important advantage of the invention resulting from the front mounting of the swather onthe tractor is that the operator of the tractor is enabled to visually supervise the operation of the swather without the necessity of turning his head to the rear, and is thus able to perform his work with greater emci'ency, aswill be clearly apparent.

It will be also observed that inasmuch as the pivots 28 of th frame members l8 are spaced rearwardly from the power take-ofi shaft l6, the belt 82 will be tightened when the attachment is lowered, and'slackened when the attachment is raised, whereby the drive to the swathing mechanism will be automatically interrupted upon raisingof the attachment when the device is to be transported from one site of operation to another.-

It is believed that the advantages and use of the invention will be'clearly understood from the foregoing disclosure, and accordingly, further description thereof at this point is deemed unnecessary. I

Having described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

The combination of a tractor including a laterally projecting power take-off shaft, and a swather includin an elongated frame pivotally attached to said tractor at a point spaced rearwardly from said power take-off shaft, said frame projecting forwardly from the tractor and having a swathing mechanism mounted on its front portion, means for raising and lowering said frame, a secondary shaft provided intermediate the ends of the frame and operatively connected to said mechanism, and a belt drive provided between said shafts, whereby said mechanism "may be driven when said frame is lowered and whereby said drive may be automatically interrupted when the frame is raised.

WILLIAM E. KRIEDEMAN.

REFERENCES orrnn The following references are of record in-the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Date Number Name 7 2,318,409 Millard et a1 ay 4,194 2,348,634 McEachern May 9,, 194?! 2,387,070 Hilblom Oct. 16, 1945 

